Halo Championship Series

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The Halo Championship Series (HCS) is the official Halo esports league created and maintained by 343 Industries. The league establishes a standard for tournament rules and gametype settings for use in official tournaments. 343 Industries has teamed up with Electronic Sports League (ESL) to host tournaments.

The first official game of the HCS was Halo 2: Anniversary. Eventually the Halo Championship Series moved to Halo 5: Guardians with the creation of the Halo World Championship.

Tournament Rules

Halo 2: Anniversary

The HCS operates on a points system.

Maps and Gametypes

The following maps and gametypes are approved for use in HCS tournaments:

Mode	Maps
Team Slayer	Shrine Lockdown Warlord
Capture the Flag	Shrine (3 Flag) Warlord (5 Flag)
King of the Hill	Lockdown Warlord
Neutral Bomb Assault	Shrine (3 Bomb) Warlord (5 Bomb)

Gametype Settings

HCS uses the following gametype settings:

Gametype	Settings
Global	Primary Weapon: Battle Rifle Secondary Weapon: None Motion sensor: Off Death Cam: Off Map loadouts: Off Weapons on Map: Default
Team Slayer	Time limit: 15 minutes Score to win: 50
3 Flag CTF	Score to win: 3 Time limit: 30 minutes Flag at home to score: No Flag return: Disabled Flag reset time: 15 seconds
5 Flag CTF Classic	Score to win: 5 Time limit: 30 minutes Flag at home to score: Yes Flag return: Instant Flag reset time: 15 seconds
Team Crazy King	Score to win: 250 seconds Time limit: 12 minutes Hill movement: Progressive Hill duration: 1 minute
Neutral Bomb Assault (3 Bomb)	Score to win: 3 Time limit: 30 minutes Bomb Arm time: 5 seconds Bomb Fuse Time: 3 seconds Bomb reset: 30
Neutral Bomb Assault (5 Bomb)	Score to win: 5 Time limit: 30 minutes Bomb Arm time: 5 seconds Bomb Fuse Time: 3 seconds Bomb reset: 30

History

Halo 2: Anniversary

With this playlist being constructed for the competitive player, there are many tournaments being created to let teams of players battle against one another to show their dominant skill. The ESL has already launched two preseason tournaments where hundreds of teams competed against one another ranging from professional players to amateurs looking to get their foot in the door. In both outcomes of the tournaments professional team, Counter Logic Gaming, took first place. As the game continues to get more popular and the year comes to an end, more and more gaming tournaments across the country will be popping up. There will be a HCS circuit that will be played on the professional level for players who are eligible to play. Prizes can include payouts of thousands of dollars.

Early Issues

The hype for the video game Halo Master Chief Collection to launch was unparalleled to other games. Millions of people across the globe were lined up outside their local stores to buy their copy of the game at their earliest convenience but the unexpected occurred. Once this game was launched, there was an immediate notice of a detrimental issue: the servers were failing to connect players to each other. This problem was immediately vocalized by the players, bashing 343 industries for their lack of preparedness. 343 Industries worked hard and quickly to try and fix the game's errors. Releasing patches for the game weeks after it was released the game was still not up to par. Currently, 343 industries is still trying to perfect their mistakes and fix the flaws in their game.

Season 1

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Second 2

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Halo 5: Guardians

At the end of 2015, the Halo World Championship was announced. The Halo World Championship would take the top 8 teams from North America, top 4 teams from Europe/Africa/Middle East, top 2 teams from Australia and New Zealand, the top team from Latin America and the top team from Asia.

2016 Season

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2017 Season

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2018 Season

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Three regional finals took place back to back in March 2018. Between March 8th and March 10th the Sydney Finals took place for the Australia/New Zealand region. The final featured a 32-team double elimination bracket. The top two squads would go to the 2018 Finals. Matches were comprised of best of 5 and best of 7 series. An additional Free-For-All tournament was set up where individual players could compete for $5,000 at Sydney with more at the 2018 Finals. In the end, Australian teams Mindfreak and Immunity would win the finals. Junior from Team Mindfreak would win the $5,000 FFA tournament.

The Latin America finals took place in Mexico City between March 17 and the 18. The finals featured an open, double elimination bracket. It also featured a Free-For-All tournament with a $5,000 prize. Psychotic Gaming won the Final and Cozmic from Team Tera Soldiers won the FFA tournament.

The last final was the Columbus Finals. It took place between March 23-25. The remaining nine Seattle Finals slots were up for grabs. The Columbus Finals were an invitational event for the North America region. The 16 teams in the finals were split into four groups. The final teams from each would be eliminated, third place teams from each would participate in an elimination wild card match, while the top two from each would be in an 8-team double elimination bracket. The top nine teams would qualify for the Seattle Finals. Only eight teams however moved on to Seattle: Splyce, Team EnVyUs, Team Reciprocity, Oxygen Supremacy, Renegades, Elevate, Str8 Rippin, and tox.

The Halo World Championship Finals for 2018 took place in Seattle, Washington between April 13-15. A 12 person Free-For-All tournament for a prize of $10,000 took place. The sixteen qualifying teams were placed into four groups. The sixteen teams were: Splyce, Str8 Rippin, Fable Esports, Psychotic Gaming, tox, Renegades, Wise Gaming, Mindfreak, Team Reciprocity, Oxygen Supremacy, Team Infused, Myztro Gaming, Team EnVyUs, Elevate, Vexed, and Team Immunity.